The Dogs of Toronto Animal Services South

Whiskey's first few days with us have been wonderful. Aside from tearing up his dog bed, he's been a gentleman in the house. He tried to get on the couch a few times but he now knows what 'Off' means and hasn't tried it anymore.
We made the mistake of getting a crate that was a tad too small, so he really didn't like it. I've just ordered the size up so hopefully we can start crate training soon. He doesn't mind when one of us leaves the apartment, but it'll be a different story when we're both gone.
The first day he paced around the apartment a bit, but by Sunday he was content to lie around in whatever room we happen to be in. Right now he follows us whenever we move from room to room. He'll get a little excited, and pace around and then quickly settles down. Because of the crate fiasco we've had him sleeping on the floor of our bedroom and he's been sleeping through the night without any problems. His favourite spot in the house is right next to wherever I happen to be.
He's been enjoying his walks and doesn't pull too much, unless he sees a squirrel! We've run into a few friends on walks and he's been very polite, sitting and waiting to be pat. We've even taken him to the tennis courts late at night to let him run around. So far in that situation he comes when we call.
He hasn't been jumping much since he's been in the house. Only a few times when he gets really really excited, but we try to calm him down and stop that behaviour.
I have noticed the country boy in him, he can get quite nervous in public. Adam ran into the store while I stayed outside with Whiskey and he got quite jittery with all the sounds of the big city. We're trying to get him more accustomed to city life little by little.
I took him to the vet yesterday, and all the staff commented on how gentle he is. I mentioned noticing him licking his groin a lot and it turns out he has a mild penis infection. So he get's a 'Wash' once a day for the next two weeks now and after that he should be fine.
I'll keep you posted with his progress!

5 Comments to “Update on Whiskey”

What a wonderful happy smile Whiskey has! And why not, sounds as if he has been chosen by some very good owners who are making sure he has a good life! And who can resist those skittering squirrels? Hope his "washes" solve his problem soon!

We just adopted a Boxer/Old English Bulldog cross who sounds so similar to Whiskey! Gentle, calm, loves to be with us.. but we have been dealing with jumpiness when he is on a main street so we have been trying to introduce it little by little. The jumpiness seems to be connected to a bit of a confidence issue, so we have to distract him with plenty of rawhide/chewy bones while we exit the house or else he cries the entire time, fixated. Training and setting boundaries have started to help, too. Best wishes with Whiskey!

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A request

The reason for this blog is to help get specific dogs adopted from TAS but equally important is to try to normalize the idea of shelter dogs being just as good and just as desirable as any other dogs including those which are regularly merchandised by backyard breeders, puppy millers and those few remaining pet store owners who still feel a need to sell live animals. The single greatest stigma shelter animals still face is the belief that shelter animals are substandard animals. Anyone who has had enough experience with shelter animals knows this is untrue but the general public hasn't had the same experiences you've had. They see a nice dog photo in a glossy magazine and too many of them would never think of associating that dog with a dog from a shelter. After all, no one abandons perfectly good dogs, right? Unfortunately, as we all know, perfectly good dogs are abandoned all the time.

The public still too often associates shelter dogs with images of beat up, sick, dirty, severely traumatized animals and while we definitely sometimes see victims such as these, they are certainly not the majority and, regardless, even the most abused animals can very often be saved and made whole again.

Pound Dogs sometimes discusses the sad histories some of the dogs have suffered. For the most part, though, it tries to present the dogs not as victims but as great potential family members. The goal is to raise the profiles of animals in adoption centers so that a potential pet owner sees them as the best choice, not just as the charity choice.

So, here's the favour I'm asking. Whenever you see a dog picture on these pages you think is decent enough, I'd like you to consider sharing it on Facebook or any other social media sites you're using (I know many of you do this already and thank you for that). And when you share it, please mention that the dog in the photo is a shelter dog like so many other shelter dogs waiting for a home. If we can get even five percent of the pet buying public to see shelter dogs differently, to see how beautiful they are and how wonderful they are, and to consider shelter dogs as their first choice for a new family member, we can end the suffering of homeless pets in this country.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------